Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) has completed six weeks of volunteer work caring for children and families affected by severe flooding in Louisiana. The 29 CDS volunteers who took part set up childcare centers in multiple locations in Baton Rouge, including shelters, and worked with two partner organizations–FEMA and the American Red Cross.
CDS
CDS Sends Another Team to Continue Work in Baton Rouge
Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) has sent another team of volunteers to continue caring for children and families who have been affected by the extreme flooding in Louisiana. On Thursday, CDS staff shared via Facebook, “While we thought our team that left yesterday would be our final Baton Rouge team, things changed and we were asked to send in another team.
Children’s Disaster Services Sends Fifth Team to Louisiana, Material Resources Ships More Aid
A fifth team of volunteers from Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) arrived in Baton Rouge, La., on Thursday, Sept. 1. Four CDS teams already have completed their service there. The CDS volunteers have been caring for children and families who have been displaced by flooding and are living in American Red Cross shelters.
Q&A: Disaster Response
Brethren Disaster Ministries executive Roy Winter answers frequently asked questions about the role of the church’s disaster response in the wake of heart-wrenching recent disasters in Louisiana and in Italy.
CDS Aids Children Displaced by Flooding in Louisiana
Two teams of Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) volunteers have begun work in Baton Rouge, La., this week, and more teams have been requested to help care for children and families who have been displaced by massive flooding.
Nigeria Crisis Response Continues Food Aid in Response to Shortages, Begins to Shift to Long-Term Recovery
As the situation in northeast Nigeria becomes more stable and many displaced people move back home, the Nigeria Crisis Response program is beginning to transition to long-term recovery activities, while still supporting basic needs of displaced Nigerians and members of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria). This week, EYN leaders confirmed food shortages in some areas of the northeast, and have requested continued food aid at least through the end of 2016.
CDS Deployments to California, W. Virginia, Mark Record Number So Far This Year
Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) volunteers recently returned from deployments in the areas of Kernville, Calif., and White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. CDS has had a record number of 9 responses so far in 2016, in addition to the Nigeria Healing Hearts response.
CDS Sends Third Team to Houston, Orlando Team Completes Service
“We have another team headed out to Houston, Texas, this week, third one this summer,” reports Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) associate director Kathleen Fry-Miller. “I know the people there are getting very weary of all the flooding and water. I’m so grateful that we have volunteers willing to go.”
CDS Team Cares for Children, Offers a Supportive Presence in Orlando
Our Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) Orlando team has reported that they feel they are at the right place to offer support. The team is serving in the Family Assistance Center (FAC) that was set up starting Wednesday for families of those who were killed early Sunday morning and for survivors and their families.
CDS Team to Work in Orlando Following Gun Massacre
In response to the horrific shooting in Orlando, Fla., the American Red Cross has asked Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) to send a team of caregivers. Since 1980, CDS has been meeting the needs of children by setting up child care centers in shelters and disaster assistance centers across the nation. Specially trained to respond to traumatized children, volunteers provide a calm, safe, and reassuring presence in the midst of the chaos created by natural and human-caused disasters. CDS is a ministry of the Church of the Brethren and is part of Brethren Disaster Ministries.